This article by Ken Rimple is from a post on Serverside.com
A Spring Summary: The Spring Framework is Still Relevant
With the advent of the simpler versions of Java EE comes a chorus of Java EE aficionados calling for developers to jettison proprietary application frameworks and embrace the core. Spring is one framework targeted for elimination, and several articles and tutorials have claimed that it’s obsolete.
To kick off a regular monthly column on TSS, I’ll tackle the question of why the Spring framework is still popular today. I’ll discuss the platform’s strengths, innovations, the power of the Spring container, contrasts and comparisons with Java EE, and some areas where SpringSource, a division of VMware, is totally ahead of the game.
Before I begin, let me lay my bias on the table. I’ve been working with Spring since 2006, when I ran into it on a project at my prior employer. I had been working with Java EE since the original 1.0 version and Java since 1.0.2. When I saw how the Spring framework simplified my life, I looked for a chance to work with it more. Having a background as a mentor, trainer and leader, I approached Chariot Solutions about teaching Spring in 2007, and I’ve been here ever since.
Chariot is a SpringSource/VMware training and solutions partner. I lead our training team, but these opinions are my own. Chariot also partners with a number of other technology firms in the enterprise application integration and development space.
Why is Spring so popular?
Simply put, Spring is so popular today because it simplifies development drastically for Java EE developers. Rod Johnson created Spring when he was writing a book on J2EE application design and felt the frustrations that most of us had with the specification. One chief concern was the emphasis on architecting separate Enterprise JavaBeans and processing them to generate deployment JARs. Another was the API‘s focus on framework interfaces — home, local and remote interfaces — not to mention that back in 2001, it took an expensive, heavyweight platform such as WebSphere or WebLogic to deploy these applications.